When Kitty Dreams
by The.Unaccounted.Tragedy
Summary: Post P.G,: 3 days after the destruction of the Glass Palace, Kitty starts to have some weird dreams... NatxKitty, First fic, reviews would be nice...
1. Chapter 1

A dark haired girl walked purposely down a muddy street strewn about with pieces of glass and chunks of buildings. A few brave souls had begun to pick through the wreckage of their homes and businesses, a mere three days after the wrath of a ancient demon god rained down upon the humble streets of London. Kitty Jones pulled her coat a bit tighter around her as she came closer to her destination. Behind a line of yellow police tape lay a tangled mess of iron and trees and whatever was left of the Glass Palace. Kitty looked around as some of the Night Police dug through wreckage to clear the surrounding streets under a drizzling grey sky.

"That's good, that's good, keep it up!" A buxom red head wearing a tight, short skirt and a padded jacket, walked among the debris. "Ah Miss Jones!" She waved at her and wobbled over on high heels.

"Oh, Miss Ferrar," Kitty plastered on a smile. Even in private, the woman was intolerable.

"I didn't see you at the council meeting," Jane purred.

"Oh, yeah," Kitty ran a hand through her short dark hair. "I don't think I'll be attending many more meetings,"

"Its alright if you feel a bit," Jane shrugged. "Alienated? After all the integration of commoners into the system will always feel harsh," She said, all but dripping with sincerity.

"Actually I was hoping to travel a bit." Kitty quipped, turning away from the woman to look at the wreckage. Jane walked up alongside her and scanned the devastation. As Kitty looked at the mangled iron rods and glass scattered like ice over the singed grass, she let her hand run over her bandaged arm.

She couldn't help but feel empty, and alone, standing there in the midst of such violence that had killed her…friend? Companion? Cohort? They had barely known each other, really known each other, for maybe four? Five hours? So why did it hurt so much? She glanced over to a singed tree and her voice caught in her throat.

_I'll see you later Kitty…_

"Terrifying isn't it?" Jane said after a moment of silence. "Such unbridled _power_, magic can be a powerful force, can't it?" She purred.

"I suppose there just aren't many solutions to an ancient demon lord ravaging the city." Kitty quipped, rubbing her arm.

"Are you hurt?" Jane asked.

"Yeah, some glass got me, I was…" What could she say? 'Running away'? "Close to the explosion," She settled on.

"Ah, yes, Gladstones staff." Jane said. "Such unbridled magical energy, it's a wonder anyone could wield it at all," She paused. "It's a shame about John."

"John?" Kitty asked. "Oh, Nat-" She stopped, and bit her lip. "Yeah, its…" She swallowed. "It's too bad." Jane nodded.

"He was a good person," Jane replied. Good person? Not her exact choice of words. The John Mandrake she had known was an ass. No other word. An ass. A noble, brave ass. "Such potential too, he could have been Prime Minister, if he had wanted."

"Yeah," Kitty agreed, shoving her hands into her pockets. "Listen, I have to run, I'll see you later Jane," She said, turning abruptly, eyes burning. Once sufficiently out of range of the red suited woman. She lingered by a still standing wall and leaned against it, breathing heavily. So many times had 'John Mandrake' come up with her, everyone saying they were so sorry, how much of a shame it was, losing such a powerful magician. It made her furious, talking about him like some come and gone tool of the government. He was more than that, especially to her.

It seemed unlikely, a man who at one point had made killing her a top priority and vice versa, but it all seemed to fade away as trivial now that he was gone. No matter how much she wanted to hate him, she could only remember that gleam in his eyes as woken up from her trip to the Other Place, or the way he smiled just before he had left. Sure, he was awkward and uptight, but that just seemed to add to his charm. And she missed him, though she would never say as much.

She bent down and scooped up a piece of forgotten glass. It was shaped like a star. She smiled. She could remember as children, wishing on sparkling stars. She tucked the piece of glass into her pocket. _Give him back._

Night had long since fallen on the dingy apartment Kitty called home. It sat over the pub where she worked and she could hear the shouts and laughter from down below where the men and women drank and sang in glee. No doubt from the whole Not-Being-Killed-By-A-4,000-Year-Old-Demon-God complex that had rested on the entire city. Barely any details of the 'incident' had been told to the public, and Kitty wondered if even members of the new government knew all the details themselves. She slipped on a nightgown and turned off her light, but then went to the window and opened the blinds. The room flooded with silver moonlight from a cloudless night.

She gazed at the flickering lights of the city before turning back to her dark room. And though she couldn't help it, she felt alone. She had been alone her entire life, true enough, but now she could really feel it. Was this what she had come to? A smart-mouth djinni and a stuck up magician die being her only friends? She rolled over and closed her eyes, and tried to get some sleep.

When she opened her eyes, she wasn't in her familiar moonlit room. It wasn't even night anymore. She stood up, realizing she had been lying on a curb, in the middle of the day, fully dressed. It was a cloudy day, but that didn't seem to stop the throngs of cars and people bustling through the streets. Kitty looked around, this was definitely London, but how…?

"Kitty! There you are!" A voice called out to her. Kitty whirled around and gasped. There was a face she had never expected to see again…


	2. Chapter 2

"Kitty!" He called, walking towards her. Kitty couldn't move, her mouth and eyes open in shock. Same short, brown hair; same collared white shirt; same black pants, but it couldn't be. Nathaniel? "Hey," She smiled. "I was waiting for-what are you doing?"

She held up her hands defensively, in a stance that just screamed 'ready to fight you', not helped too much by the unmistakable bloodlust in her eyes. "Stay away demon!" She said. Nathaniel just sort of stared. "I read about this, night demons, called the succubus, who invade your mind while you're sleeping to force you to do their-ouch!" She said, recoiling from a hearty flick on the forehead.

"We don't have time for this," He said, impatiently, grabbing her hand to drag her along. "Come on let's go," He said, as she stumbled after him down the busy street. Kitty was shocked and blushed slightly at the whole 'sort-of-kinda-hand-holding' situation going on here, as her petite hand seemed to fit so easily into his larger and warmer one.

"Wait wait wait wait waaaait!" She said, stopping. "You're..." She started. "You..." She couldn't say it.

"Died?" He supplemented. Kitty looked down, a bit embarrassed. "Well..._yeah..._" He said.

"Then why are you here?!" She demanded, hot tears welling at her eyes as she pulled her hand out of his. "You shouldn't be here!" She said, her face red. Nathaniel recoiled. "Just go away!" She yelled.

"Kitty," He said softer, putting a hand on her shoulder. "I'm here because you need me, I promise I'll be gone soon enough, but now," He said, leading her to a bench sitting near a bakery. "I need you to do some things for me,"

"Oh I get it," She sniffed, wiping at her eyes with her sleeve, not looking up. "You come back from the dead to take over the government or whatever you thought you were going to accomplish before you blew up!" She said, angry. "I guess ambition never does die does it?" She hissed. "You are just like all of them aren't you? And to think you were different, you are just a conceited, stupid-"

"I need you to talk to your parents."

"What?" She stopped. "My parents?"

"You have to go home and talk to them," He said, in all seriousness.

"What?" She repeated. "Why do you want me to talk to them, I haven't spoken to them in...in forever! They don't care where I am or what I do or...anything..." She whispered sadly. She suddenly looked up. "Oh I get it," She said. "Its because you feel bad about the whole kidnapping me last time I even saw them! Think you can just turn my own parents against me and fix it with a few nice words?! Well you are wrong!" She said, stressing the last word.

Nathaniel didn't say anything, just stood up and looked towards the street. "They probably did their best for you," He said quietly. "You should be more thankful for them," He said, not a hint of emotion in his voice. He turned towards her, and she almost flinched at the hurt look in his eyes. "Come on, I want to show you something," He said, walking across the street.

"Wait!" Kitty called, dashing after him. They walked in silence for a bit, down dark alleys, across busy streets, through parks, until they arrived at a dingy section of London. The buildings looked old, and ornate, made of stone and bricks. They stopped walking in front of a large building, marked by large arches and high steps carved from some sort of grey stone, weathered and dirty with age.

"Do you know what this building is?" He asked. "Ministry of Magical Education."

"I don't understand," She said.

"Officially, this is the registry for master/apprentice bonds for Magicians, a center where children with magical prowness get inducted into more important status." He smirked. "They grow up here, receive an education, then are shipped out to a master."

"What about their parents?" Kitty asked hesitantly.

"Gone," Nathaniel said. "Along with their compensation money..."

"Compensation? So they sell their own children?!" Kitty said. "That can't be! Thats just so wrong!"

"Parents would only be a burden on the system," he said. "They get in the way of studies, create unessecary bonds, and know the birth names of the children. In two or three years, I doubt they would even remember they had a child." He said sadly. "The government does pay quite handsomely for talent, might I add..."

"Nathaniel..." Kitty started. "Did you...?"

"You should go see your parents." He said, cutting her off. "What's the matter?" He said walking over to her, and letting his hand rise gently to her face. She took a sharp intake of breath, as she felt his warm hand against her face. "Afraid they won't like you taste in hair color?" He smirked, lifting a strand of her mottled white-black hair. "Admittedly, its better than the whole 'dead' look but..." He said, cut off by a infuriated woman smacking his hand away.

"Nobody asked!" She seethed. "Maybe I like it this way! And your one to talk, 'the whole dead look' really Nathaniel? Really?" She fumed. "Geez!" Nathaniel laughed. To think she ever felt sorry for this guy! "Jerk!" She said. "To think I even missed you!? Stupid-"

"You missed me?" He said, grinning like the Cheshire Cat as Kitty turned into a volcano. "That's okay, to think you could resist my natural charm? Silly me." He purred, running a hand through his short hair.

"Charm?! Get real!" She yelled, going beyond the point of furious. "Your just a stupid magician! A stupid, stupid, _stupid _magician!" She turned on her heel and stomped away. "And I AM going to see my mom and dad, but NOT because you said it!"

"One last thing, Kitty!" He called to her.

"What?!"

"Good morning."

Kitty opened her eyes with a start. The moonlight in her room had turned to sunlight and stung at her eyes. She ground her teeth, why was she getting so worked up over some dumb dream? She quickly got dressed and dashed out of her room. Nathaniel was dead. D-E-A-D. Dead and blown up. She knew it. So why couldn't she say it?

Kitty sighed as she found herself outside a familiar little house. It was a Saturday, and she could almost picture the scene in her house: her mom at the stove, her dad at the table reading the paper, the smell of bacon and eggs in the air...Slowly, she walked up to the door and hesitantly knocked at the door. Seconds passed. Suddenly the door clicked and opened.

"K-Kitty?"

"Hey Mom," She smiled at the small, brown haired woman, swallowing slightly. Last time they had parted it hadn't exactly been on the best of terms...she hadn't even contacted her for the last three years...this had been a dumb idea...

"Oh my God, Kitty!" Her mother dashed out at her and enveloped her in a bone crushing hug. "Kitty, oh my little girl, they said, in the newspaper, that you had died, with those attacks, oh Kitty!" She sobbed. "I knew you were out there, my little girl, all alone...I was so afraid you blamed me for what happened with Jakob and the government, Kitty I was so scared.." She cried.

"Mom," Kitty said, pulling away from her to look on her mothers aged face. "Its okay Mom, I...I always knew you tried your best for me, and you never did anything wrong by me," Her mothers hand rested on her own tear stained cheek as she struggled for breath.

"Kitty your so grown up now," She said, looking her daughter over. "Sometime I wondered if you ever needed me at all,"

"No," Kitty said, embracing her mother once again. "I will always need you Mom," She said. "I-I love you." When was the last time she had said that to her mom? Ten years? Twelve? She could remember days when she was a little girl, no thoughts of government, revolution, or sadness of any kind...just a little girl and her mommy...

"Oh, I love you too Kitty." Ms. Jones sniffled. "But what on earth have you gone and done with your hair?"


	3. Chapter 3

As Kitty walked away from her parents home, she meandered to a street that started to look more and more familiar. She sat down on a bench identical to the one in her dream. Had she really seen him? Was it true?

"Kitty!" Kitty whirled in shock and perhaps a bit of hope.

"Nath-Oh, hi there Jakob." She said slowly.

"Kitty!" He said, embracing her. "Oh, I'm so happy to see you! I've heard all about you in the papers!" He smiled. Kitty couldn't help but indulge in a moment of happiness with her old friend, who was looking much better. His burns had become mere discolorations, barely visible, his dark hair now thick and shiney, and he looks healthier than he had been in ages.

"Jakob," She smiled.

"Oh then, did you here about this Mandrake fellow?" Jakob said, sitting down, his eyes animated. Kitty froze. "This is that government guy that was chasing us! Can't believe he's gone, great news though right?" Kitty couldn't speak. "Ah, little lose though eh? Hey, wanna go get something to drink to catch up or whatever? Can you believe this? '_A great magical talent with a good heart and dedication, and more than enough potential to take him to the Prime Ministers seat..." _Good heart? Can you believe?!" He laughed. "Hey, Kitty, you okay?"

"I-I'm, Jakob..." She tried to say, not sure whether to be happy, sad, or furious. "Listen, I need to go now...I'll talk to you later..." She said, pushing him away gently, before turning to get lost in the crowd.

"So?" Nathaniel asked, nonchalantly leaning over a wooden chair. Kitty recognized this place, it was her place of employment, The Frog, only a lot less full, darker, and containing a dead guy. "How'd the Mummy/Daddy reunion go?"

"Fine, why did you want me to go to them anyways?" She was wearing her usual work uniform, only the skirt seemed to ride a little higher than she remembered. "You still haven't explained why your here." She tugged on the skirt. "Does this look small to you?"

"Yes, I have." He said. "Its because you need me here. I thought we went over this, and I made some modifications to the original uniform, I think it looks much better."

"Need you?" She asked. "Thats awfully presumptuous of you, and if I remember, your judgement about people needing things can be awfully skewed." She scowled. "This is downright lewd, you can almost see my panties through this thing," She said, readjusting the skirt.

"Like I said, it looks much better." He replied. "What do you mean skewed?" He said, standing and tugging on his shirts sleeves.

"Like the government," She snapped. "Pardon me if I think that, what, 8? 5 year blunder wasn't your crowning achievement."

"Like throwing bombs at a bunch of buildings made things any better," Nathaniel snorted. "This Resistance thing was no more than a bunch of petty thieves who killed some imps and that was the end of it."

"Watch it, those people were my friends." She growled, flipping a switch. Instantly the entire place was lit from a hanging light fixture over the bar. "At least I had _ideals, standards_, and a set of morals, as opposed to you, a bunch of whiney slave drivers oppressing anyone who didn't have to good luck to be born _magical_."

"'Whiney slave drivers' is a bit of an overstatement, magic was used to build this city, help the people..."

"Do you really believe that, _John_?" She sniped. "Did you think magic, and your precious government was going to solve all the problems?"

"I...I did," He said, as if realizing something for the first time. "What was I supposed to think, Kitty? I wanted to believe in something, I needed to believe that my life could be used for something greater, for others." He smiled. "I suppose I should blame you for getting me into this."

"Me?! Don't you try to load this off on me!" She yelled.

"Your resistance? Opposition only can make my resolve stronger," He laughed. "But I suppose I should also thank you."

"Why?"

"When I saw you, I thought you were dead...I felt...something had gone wrong, I didn't know who I was anymore." He said. "John Mandrake, Minister of Information; seemed like an unfamiliar name. I thought, how could I be a part of a system that only works when those its supposed to serve are out of the way?"

"Was that all you felt?"

"What?"

"What? No, nothing." She said, becoming facinated with a candle on a table.

"Kitty." He said. "You have to enter the government."

"What!?" She said, looking up into his dark eyes, gleaming with seriousness. "No!"

"You wanted change, here's your chance to actually have a voice!"

"I-I can't!" She said. "I was going to travel..."

"So you can stand to fight for something, to see your friends die for it, and still not have to backbone to actually do it?" He looked at her. "You're a hypocrite, and a coward."

"Coward?! How dare you!" She said. "You're one to talk! I didn't see you running to solve anything!" She stood and started to walk towards the door, not knowing where she could possibly be going.

"I'm dead." He said, his words like a slap across her face. "You're still here, your dreams are still alive, you have potential." _Potential_, she had heard that word too many times today.

"Potential." She sneered. "Everyone just can't get enough of it, _does_ describe you though."

"Me?"

"Yes, they all say, 'oh-Ms. Such and Such-suuuuch a shame about that Mandrake fellow,'" She said, drawling as best she could. " 'Really such a shame, dahling, he had such potential.'" She said, spiting every syllable of the last word.

"Who's saying this?"

"Oh you know, that bloody Ferrar for starters." She said. "What a _bitch_."

"Jane Ferrar?" Nathaniel said. "She's been talking about me?" He said, eyebrows raising.

"Don't get a big head, she's just a pretentious little git with a stick shoved up her-"

"And this _bothers_ you...interesting..." Nathanial smirked and got up to walk over to her. Kitty bit her lip and glared. "So," He said casually, running a bored hand through is hair. "Jealousy? Methinks?"

"Get over yourself." She grumbled, standing up. "You barge into my dreams, give me advice I don't need...shorten my skirt to excessive lengths!" She said, 99 percent sure the thing had gone and hiked itself up another inch.

"Its a nice skirt," He said, much closer behind her than she had thought. Kitty's eyes began to sting.

"You shouldn't be able to just barge in like this, just when I'm getting over-" She stopped.

"Kitty?" Nathaniel asked, placing a hand on her shoulder.

"I don't even get what you could see in Farrar, dumb wolf-girl-thing." She babbled. "Don't be so shallow, she only good for those tight tops, and I know for a fact thats a push up bra..."

"Kitty," His voice had changed tone, Kitty noticed, it was lower, softer. "Kitty," he repeated. She turned to face him. His hand on her shoulder seemed to draw her nearer, even though they stayed at the same distance apart. "You are much, much prettier." He whispered, gazing softly over her face. Kitty blushed and looked down.

"You idiot," She cried, stepping forward and catching him in a hug. "Stupid magician," She said, trying her hardest not to cry. She felt a warm hand come up and stroke her hair gently. And for that moment, time seemed to stand still.

"Kitty-" He started.

"Don't talk," She mumbled, her head pressed firmly against his white shirt. "Please just don't leave," She started, hiccuping as the torrent of tears came. "Don't leave me," She sobbed. Kitty had never considered herself a weepy person, au contraire, she tended to be quite the stone wall. But, defenses forgotten, she felt like a child, helpless and scared against the world, but safe in his embrace. She was safe here. She was happy.

"Kitty," He said softly in her ear. "Listen to me, Jakob...he's..." He stopped and place a crooked finger under her chin, leading her gaze up to meet his. "Promise me you're going to say no,"

"What?" She said. "I don't under-"

"I know, I'm sorry." He said. "I'm sorry Kitty." Slowly, he leaned ever so slightly down and let his lips brush her forehead. And with that, it was morning once again.

Kitty sat up in her bed, and wiped away the moisture that had somehow formed around her eyes. And as her fingers brushed furiously at her face, she let them linger up to her forehead, where she swore she felt some trace or warmth.


	4. Chapter 4

Kitty stormed down the steps of the capital, raging from the earlier Council meeting. Certainly, Piper and Mr Button were nice enough, but she could NOT stand those overfed suits looking down on her like some mangy commoner. This was hard, this was very hard. She sat down on the buildings step and buried her hands in her hair, and took a couple deep breaths.

So far it seemed all they could do was argue about fishing trade policies in the northern ports. Not exactly the radical change she had hoped for. She had visited the graves of her old Resistance friends, hoping to find some inspiration, to lay some flowers; but nothing came of it. Maybe Nathaniel had been wrong...she thought, remembering her dream with a slight grin and leaping heartbeat.

_No. No. No. NO_. She started pounding her head. This was silly. Getting all worked up about a dead guy she had been hallucinating about. But it had been so real...it had felt real at least...she needed to clear her head. She stood up and descended the capital stairs, melding into the busy crowds of London. And she walked.

She walked and walked and walked until she felt as though her head was at last empty. And where was she? Wreckage of the Glass Palace. No one was here today, the silence echoing among fallen pieces of iron and chunks of furniture. _He said he would be back, he said he would be safe, he said he would take care of it, he said he would come back. _And now here she was, alone. She could still see him now, confident smile, glowing eyes, gaping wound oozing from his side, smartmouth djinni spewing out more lies.

Djinni? Bartemaeus! She had almost completely forgotten about him, and now his memory came back just to make him sad. He was most definetely gone as well. How depressing. He had trusted in her, brought her to the other side, and was repaid with this? She started to walk back to the city, and ran into a familiar face.

"Kitty!" Jakob smiled. "There you are," He said.

"Hey Jakob," She replied happily, eager to get her mind on anything except her fallen friends and a dead ghost who was kind of making her want him...

"Kitty," He started, taking his arm as they fell in step. "I heard about you joining the council, thats wonderful! You can finally start to change things for England, this is great! I'm so happy for you." Kitty nodded.

"I've read your letters you sent to your parents home for me," She said. "You seem to be doing well,"

"Oh yes," He said energetically, as he continued to jabbering on about profits and stores, and employees as they turned into a small cafe and sat. "Kitty its all coming together for us both! Just liked I've dreamed..."

"You would think," She said. "Jakob, what do you think about dreams?"

"Dreams?" He stopped. "They day dreams are the way the spirits communicate with each other, to warn and inform, and to inspire and guide." He said. "Some people even claim they have seen the future revealed through their dreams!"

"Spirits?"

"You know," He said. "Those around you, those from the earth, and even people who have died, why? Bad dreams?"

"No, its nothing," Kitty shook her head.

"But Kitty," He said, sticking his hands into his pockets. "There's something I've dreamt about for a long time, and I wanted to ask you," He said, slipping out of his chair and to the ground on one knee. From his pocket he pulled a little box. "Kathleen Jones, will you, marry me?"

-*-

She was in a large house. Persian rugs covered wooden floors, and a few modest paintings hung from the walls. Some ornate trinkets decorated tables and the like tastefully. And now she was wearing a white dress. It was plain, more similar to a sundress or the like, but it made its point.

"What do you think of it?" She heard him call down the long hall she was standing in. "I used to live here, you know? It's a little plain, comparitively, but I think its restful." He turned a corner, and walked down beside her. "Come on, more things to do."

"Its very pretty," She mumbled, guilt weighing down on her. "Nathaniel," She breathed. "I said yes." He paused.

"Yes?"

"Yes."

"Why? You don't love him." He stated, more annoyed than anything else.

"You don't know that!" She snapped. "He's a good person; honest, he cares greatly for me, and, here's a key point, he's _alive_."

"What are you implying?" Nathaniel said.

"I'm implying nothing!" She said. "I just can't keep waiting around for someone who's not coming back," She said weakly. "You said you'd just catch up in a moment, that you'd be there soon...and you never showed..."

"Kitty, it would have been too dangerous, the only reason your not in the hospital, or worse, is because the amulet-"

"So you lied to me, just to protect me?" She said sadly. "I thought you knew me better,"

"I knew you'd never go otherwise." He said, softly.

"Maybe I should of stayed there then," She said, angry. "It sure beats falling asleep every night knowing the one thing I want," She breathed, letting her shoulders sag. "I can never have." She took his hand, and held it.

"Do you want me to leave?" He asked, drawing her into an embrace. She couldn't answer him at first. All she wanted was for this moment to last as long as possible. "I'm making you sad then?" He asked a second time.

"I make myself sad," She said.

"Stupid girl," He mumbled, kissing the top of her head. "Maybe I'm just selfish,"

"Yes, yes you are." She murmured. "Kindly shut up," Was she snuggling? Yeah, this counted as snuggling...

"I'm sorry,"

"Didn't I mention something about shutting up?"

"_You_ can't move on, that's why you needed me."

"Mhm, I'll bet." She said.

"Why do I feel slighted?"

"Mmm isn't that interesting..."

"Kitty." He said, pushing her away. "I have to go." He said entirely serious.

"What?" She said. "Why?!" Snuggling...?

"I was wrong to say you shouldn't get married to Jakob." He said, shaking his head. "You have a new life now," He held up his hands. "The government, you're parents, Jakob...you don't need some dead magician guy hanging over your shoulder."

"Wait, I didn't mean," She jumbled her words.

"Summon Bartimaeus," He said, turning to walk away from her. "He'll probably be missing you by now..." He said, leaving.

"Nathaniel...!" She called. "I love you!" She yelled. "Don't go..." He turned to look at her with sad eyes.

"I love you too Kitty." He said. "Wake up."

-*-


	5. Chapter 5

Kitty toyed with the little gold ring on her finger. This wasn't right. This wasn't healthy either. Had she just been broken up with...in a dream...with a dead, magician of all things? And why had he asked her to summon Baritmaeus? And why was she drawing out the summoning pentacle as she mused? Dead people could be surprisingly persuasive...

As she finished the last rune, a thought occured to her. She took her hand and smudged away the first connecting line in the pentacle. Anything less thatn his complete trust might offend him. She began in incantation.

It was a surprisingly simple entrance, some mild smoke came from the center of the circle, wafting about ankle level around the circle, and encircling it like a cats tail. From the center of the circle, black smoke whirled and became shapes. Shoulders...legs...head...the black smoke took a human shape, of perhaps a lanky man, or incredibly shapeless woman, standing in the center, arms folded. With a shimmer of white, characteristics were filled in: shoes, a white shirt under the black which appeared to be a suit now, and a mess of brown hair. A very familiar face indeed.

"Who is it that calls upon I Bartimaeus? Scourge to the Demon Nouda, the Silver Plume Ser-"

"Baritmaeus?!"

"It is I-Oh hey...Kitty?" The psuedo-Nathaniel said, clearly shock. He looked at his appearance. Then back at her. With a bang of light, the egyptian boy appeared. "I was wondering how long it would take some harebrained apprentice to look me up in some old book...aren't I recorded dead now? Oh so you didn't dye it...oh how thoughtful." He said, seeing the open circle and stepping out. "Wow...that felt...surprisingly mediocre..."

"How did you survive?!" She cried. "Wait, if you're here, than could that mean that at the last moment Nat-?" The djinni held up a hand for her to stop.

"Don't kid yourself, Kitty." He said. "The brat dismissed me at the last moment before the thing blew, don't quite know exactly what his big-game plan was, but apparently that might of thrown a hitch in his climb to Prime Mins-." He said, cut off by a sharp slap to the face.

"He saved your slimy essence," She snarled. "More than you did for him,"

"I've saved his life plenty times," Bartimaeus said, a tad ruffled. "Why are you even standing up for him, you didn't like him," His face contorted into a sneaky grin. "Ohhhh, but you _did_ didn't you?"

"Like your any different!" She said. "Exactly who's form did you pop up in?" The boy shifted.

"Thats not important now," He said, sidestepping with all the grace of a hippo. "What is it you want? You didn't bind me, so you obviously aren't going to command me, very admirable, sticking to the whole djinni/human alliance?"

"Well the regulations on summonings are going to be more strictly inforced...but that isn't why I asked you to come!" She said. "I need to know..."

"Well?" He asked, tapping his sandaled foot.

"Is there anyway, maybe some part of him, survived?" She asked timidly.

"Who?" Bartimaeus asked. "Oh! So I was right then?" He smirked. "Someone has it in for Natty-Boy~" He sung. Kitty threw her shoe at his head. "Ow!"

"I'm just asking..." She said sadly, wrapping her arms around herself, and the djinni stopped.

"Kitty," He said sadly. "I don't think there's any-" He stopped. "Oh hey..."

"What?" She asked. "What is it!?"

"Well," He said, folding his skinny legs under him and sitting down. "I've heard that sometimes with large magical entities or releases of magic, rifts are opened."

"Rifts?"

"To The Other Place." He said, rocking back and forth. "You could try...summoning him?"

"A summon?" She said. "You can't be serious, and even if I did, he doesn't have essence! He couldn't pass through..."

"Its possible her could of snatched some from Nouda, or absorbed it..." He said. "I don't know, it was just a thought!"

"If I tried it...?"

"Wow you really like this guy? Really?" Bartimaeus asked, receiving a total death glare from the mottled haired girl. "Well," He mused. "I suppose you could give it a go, sure, why not? The worst that could happen is your body being blown apart."

"Wait, what?"

"Its just the body," He shrugged. Kitty sighed.

"How would we go about doing this then?"

-*-

A couple of minutes (hours) later, a painstakingly complex pentagram was drawn on the floor. "Are you sure this is right?" Kitty asked for the hundredth time.

"If ancient Armenian serves, then yes, should be." The egyptian boy reclined on the bed in Kittys room. "Might I ask why exactly you're so intent on bringing Natty-boy back? You're engaged." He said, pointing to her shining ring.

"Not for long." She said. "I just need to finish some things..."

"You love him?" Bartimaeus asked nonchalantly. "You humans, always doing silly things for love; take Cleopatra..."

"You don't understand anything." She said coldly as she stood. "Hand me the incantation, I'm ready."

"Suit yourself." Bartimaeus said, handing her a hand written scroll he had scratched out a few minutes earlier. "This should be it."

"Okay." She said, and began to murmur the words. Smoke rose from the circle and little crackles of lightning. She kept going. The smoke and light became greater and greater as she spoke, a light forming in the center of the circle. Brighter and brighter it came until the whole room seemed as though it was whirling. As Kitty finished, the light and smoke began to fade, until the room was empty, as was the circle. Kitty waited. Nothing happened. "No..." She said, falling to the floor. "No!" She slammed her fists on the ground.

"Kitty?" Bartimaeus said, not daring to approach her.

"I know he's still there," She said, tears forming. "He's not...he can't be d-d-..." She began to cry harder. Suddenly from the circle floated an array of small, dim glowing lights. Three little ones followed a larger one, as they listed up and dazed around the circle. "Baritmaeus...?"

"Look Kitty," The djinni said, leaning forward intently. "You did it...thats a soul."

"A soul?"

"The purest form a human can give, closest to our essence...I've never seen one this side before..." He said, studying the floating orb with great awe. Kitty watched as like dazed fireflies, the light swirled around the pentacle.

"Is it...Nathaniel?" She asked. He nodded. "So how do we, get him...you know, normal?"

"No clue." The djinni shrugged.

"What?!"

"I don't know," He said defensively. "I didn't think we'd make it this far..."

"Your essence." She said simply.

"What?"

"Give him a little of your essence." She said again. "That way he can take a form and once he has that, shouldn't actual flesh or something start to form?" She was just throwing darts in the dark, but the djinni considered it.

"We can try." He said, raising a finger. From the finger a small glob of silvery goo dripped off. It floated lazily to the pentacle, as if drawn by a magnet. The glows and the essence reacted instantly, grabbing a hold of each other and melding. Slowly, it took shape. It grew and and grew: feet? legs? shoulders? Until it resembled a human figure, silver in color, lying on the pentacle. Then the silver faded, and color came into the person: brown hair, fair skin, cheeks flushed and even a white shirt and black pants; just like in her dream.

"Well?" Baritmaeus said. "Go see if you can wake him up."


	6. Chapter 6 End

Kitty cautiously stepped into the pentacle. Smoke and steam hissed as she penetrated the delicate barrier. Nathaniel lay on the ground, limp on his side as though he had just fallen asleep, his brown hair carelessly strewn across his face. It sure looked like him, but doubts still lingered.

"Wait." Bartimaeus said, inching to the edge of the pentacle. "Even though it looks like him there is a teeny weeny little isty bitsy chance you could of summoned something dangerous." He said, holding up his hand. A controlled blue flame crawled up around his dark skin. "Would you be prepared to see him die...again?" He said, placing his other hand on her shoulder.

"No," She said weakly through cracked lips. "How can I be sure?"

"Well..." Thought the djinni. "You can't, just go with whatever gut feeling you had in the first place. After all, there must have been a good reason, going through all this complex summoning for this twat, frankly I'm surprised something a bit more malicious didn't crawl throw the gate you opened."

"Gate?" She asked, warily.

"Well how else would you summon something without essence?" He said, as if stating the obvious. "Our essence is what goes through the passages, but you have to have a special, and a whole lot more lax cerimony...kind of like just opening a door," He said.

"Like Ptolmeys gate?"

"Heavens no," He said. "The gate would be the front door, this would be like...busting down a wall."

"Great." She said. "Please be there..." She whispered to herself as she reached out to nudge him. She stopped. "Bartimaeus_ stop_ it."

"Stop what?"

"That hissing sound, like a deflating balloon, its _really _annoying." She said, turning to face him. "Can't you be serious?"

"Hissing?" He said, turning pale. "Kitty...that wasn't me..."

"You think...?"

"Hurry, check the room." He said, turning into a fierce looking minotaur, wielding a pair of axes. "Don't hesitate to use force. Remember the incantations?" She nodded, as they both turned to look around for whatever was making the noise. She checked around her bed and dresser, while he searched the corners, closet, and desk. Suddenly it stopped.

"I can't hear it anymore." She whispered to him across the room.

"That can't be a good sign." He said.

"No, it isn't now is it?" A rasping voice hissed. Kitty jumped to her guard to see a shadowy, slender, snake like figure forming in the middle of the room, as if gravitating shadows to form its shape. "Ahhh how good it is to feel the air of this miserable earth for a while." It whispered. "Do I scare you, dearie?" It asked. It had taken the form of some sort of giant python, very long and somewhat slender, reticulated and baring its teeth.

"Its a djinni." Bartimaeus said, holding up his blades. "High level, maybe some experience in Africa?"

"Clever..." It rasped. "How lucky of me to be summoned to such a foolish girl, not even bothering with a pentacle? How rude."

"It was not for you I summoned." She growled, drawing out a silver blade from her bedside table.

"Ahhh yesss." It hissed. "It was for that _thing_, that had invaded our perfect world."

"He's my friend!" She said. "You will not harm him, demon!"

"I have no interest in such disgusting things." It said, twirling its long tail. "Got dragged in when a big spirit went down...such magic..." The snake shivered. "Not demon and not even man anymore, this world has no place for it...a foolish girl, who would want of such an annoyan-Oooh ahh!!" It cried, at a thrown silver blade slicing throw its esscence with expert prescision.

"He is my friend, it was not his time to die." She said, seething with rage. "I'm not letting him go that easy." The snake hissed as its oozing essence began to heal.

"An unwise choice girl." It said, flaring up. "Now for my real reason for diving throw to this filthy place." It said, opening its jaws. "To feed on foolish magicians like you!" It lunged at her. Kitty dived to the ground, clutching to her silver knife. As the snakes head whirled around, Kitty sliced with the knife the end of its long tail. The snake cried out, and twisted, wrapping the end of its tail around her ankle, and pulling her feet out from under her, until she hit the ground with a hard thunk.

"Kitty!" Bartimaeus said, letting loose a string of detonations. Writhing its skinny body, the snakes head weaved in between each one, make a beeline for Kitty. She rolled futlily, as more and more of the snake wrapped around her. She raised her knife to stab it before a well places explosions from the snake sent it spiraling out of her hand. She held her hands to her face to shield her neck as a pair of hungry fangs came her way. With a small "whmp" the face of the snake hit a glistening Shield created by Bartimaeus.

"Kitty, you have to remember a spell!" Bartimaeus said, appearing next to her. "Come on! Shriveling fire! Contricting bonds! Anything girl! This thing is seriously strong!!" He said, as the Shield began to shimmer the more the snake hissed. "He's undoing my shield, come on!"

"I-I don't know!" She said, as the snake mercilessly squeezed her legs, tighter and tighter. "I'm not a magician!" She cried, truly afraid. "I need help!"

"Well put." A voice from across the room agreed. With that a small word was muttered, and the snake froze. A quick movement of the hand, and the demon burst into flames, releasing Kitty. Scrambling away from the screaming now pile of ashes, Kitty clutched at her clothes, shivering in fear. "Still as useless as ever, Kitty."

Her head whirled around. There, standing a few feet away, he was. He really was. Not a dream, not a specter, not an illusion. It was him, really. "Nathaniel," She breathed, struggling to her feet. She moved over to him slowly, her legs still aching.

"Hey Kitty," He said shyly. "How have you been?" He asked. He response was a swift slap across the cheek.

"Thats for lying to me and going off and getting yourself blown up to save London, you prick!" She said, her face red with anger. "I hate you!" She said, to a very anguished Nathaniel. Then, without another word, she launched herself into a sobbing hug.

"_Women,"_ Bartimaeus said dissaprovingly, at a very confused and somewhat dazed Nathaniel. "Good to see you anyways." The minotaur shrugged, before whirling back into the egyptian boy, who became very intent with his fingernails. "So...if I was to be going...?"

"Yes, yes. Go on already," Kitty mumbled, looking up at Nathaniel, her eyes big, and teared.

"Gladly." The boy made a gagging face. "Don't be stranger," He said, as he whirled away in a poof of smoke, not that either teenager noticed.

"It really is you..." Kitty said, letting her fingers guide themselves up to his face. Touching his hair, letting her fingers run over his face, breathing in every moment of him. How wonderful it was.

"Kitty, I'm sorry." He said, hugging her tightly. "I thought I could help you...I should of never bothered you. You were right, about the moving on, I mean, all this could of killed you...you shouldn't have-"

"But it didn't." She replied. "You saved me once again," She half laughed, half cried. "I missed you so much."

"I missed you too." He said, stroking her hair. They looked at each other for a long moment, and slowly, as if reverently, he drew her head closer to his, as skin met skin and lip met lip in a gentle kiss. Kitty's heart danced in delight as butterflies from her toes up filled every vein in her body. It was a delicate kiss, as if anything too rough might break her, like a china doll. Slowly, they broke apart.

"Your shaking," She said, smiling a bit.

"So are you," He replied. "Pardon me if I'm a bit nervous," He said.

"Me too," She whispered, as they kissed again.

"What are we going to do about Jakob?" He whispered.

"Geez Nathaniel!" She said, dropping her hands from their position around his neck. "Who think about another man while getting some from his own girlfriend?"

"Its kind of important if that other man is the girls fiancee," He said, expaserated. "I _told_ you to say no, now its nothing but trouble! And who ever said you were my girlfriend?! How embarrassing!"

"So I'm _not_ your girlfriend?!" She said, putting her hands on her hips. "You were planning on kissing then dumping me?!"

"I don't know," He smirked. "Farrar still asking about me?"

"Ooooh _you!_" She raged as Nathaniel laughed. "Nice to see you're just as infuriating in real life as in dreams!" She grumbled.

"You're just too cute when you're all worked up." He said. "But surely you must of had some plan now for the future, Kitty?"

"What? Mister dead-the-know-it-all leaves it up to me? Well..." She said, folding her arms saucily and sauntering up to him. "I was sort of thinking of taking a break from government, do a little travel...maybe to Egypt: Alexandria, Babylon...somewhere sunny and sandy to help aid in the research process...maybe if they had a nice beach there too..."

"But you're going to end this with Jakob?" He asked.

"Never would of pegged you for the jealous type," She said.

"I wouldn't call it jealousy." He said, a tad ruffled. "Precaution? You know I'm certainly not the type that likes to lose, especially with such a prize..." He said, pulling her closer.

"A prize am I?" She cooed. "I think Bartimaeus had a story like this, two lovers, one women, a cup of wine, a white steed, and four swords..."

"Now who's talking about other men?" He groaned.

"Don't be whiney, sweetheart." She said, kissing his cheek gently. "Now come on, we have to tell a lot of people that you decided to pop back into the land of the living, _John Mandrake. _Also, I'm taking you over to my Mom and Dad's for dinner next Saturday." She said, taking his hand. He sighed.

"Fair enough," He replied, letting her lead him along. "Kitty,"

"Yes?"

"Thank you."

"Any time."

"Kitty?"

"Yes?"

"I love you."

"I love you too, stupid magician."


End file.
